Stony Brook women's preview: Defense a universal language

Chemistry. Culture. Relationships.

Those are the descriptors Stony Brook women’s basketball coach Joy McCorvey and forward Caitlin Frost repeatedly used to describe the State of the Seawolves.

With good reason. The Seawolves brought in 10 players, including Frost, so this offseason has been primarily about getting to know one another and developing trust.

“Not only do we have a balance of underclassmen and older players but we have a lot of international players, as well,” McCorvey said during CAA media day. “We are very diverse. Which has been so much fun learning and educating ourselves on different cultures and different lifestyles. It’s been so fun watching them mesh.”

For a program coming off a 12-18 season in 2024-25, the question is whether the mix of players and personalities can help propel Stony Brook into the upper echelon of the CAA.

Frost, for one, thinks that could be the case.

“What brought me to Stony Brook was the basketball but I feel like the biggest part of Stony Brook is the relationships you get to build with the people around you,” the sophomore from Les Coteaux, Quebec, said. “I never thought I would get so comfortable with the group so quickly and, honestly, that just translates to the court. I feel like we’ve already built a lot of great chemistry over such a small period of time.”

Why?

“One thing about me is that I’m international,” said Frost, who averaged nine points and 5.5 rebounds for St. Bonaventure last season. “So to know that I’m in a group that has other international students, as well as other students in general, that just [includes] me for who I am and just [accepts] me, and being able to learn about different places and where people are from, and just being able to come [together] with people who have different backgrounds and work toward a common goal, I feel like that is the biggest part for me.”

To reach Frost’s common goal, McCorvey is stressing defense.

“The preparation is the preparation,” McCorvey said. “We will be defined by defense. That has been our focus.

“Leading from preseason, leading from practices right now, we have to be in the best shape possible to play fast on the offensive end. But in order to play fast on the offensive end, we have to defend and rebound. We want to be in the top four, top half, in every defensive statistical category.

“This summer, we did a lot of research on top teams in the country [and] also within our own conference and where were our shortcomings on the defensive side of the ball. That's our focus going into this season. The offense is fine if you can defend.”

Inarguably.

Still with so many new faces, having someone to build the team around is vital. Enter Frost, who played in 24 games, starting 22.

“I was lucky enough to get that much experience as a freshman, which I am very grateful for,” Frost said. “I think it just taught me to be tougher and be more of a leader on the court and off the court with my teammates and be able to push them [to] bring our team up together.”

Added McCorvey: “Caitlin is young but you forget she’s young because she’s so mature. She walks and talks like an upperclassman. So sometimes I forget that she’s still very young.”